University attendance/engagement - it sounds pretty dire

[Suffolker]

Did anyone see this article last week in the Guardian?
https://www.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/may/28/i-see-little-point-uk-university-students-on-why-attendance-has-plummeted

It makes for pretty grim reading, and talking to a friend who works at our local university, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration of the current level of attendance and engagement by undergraduates. It sounds very different to how I remember my university days in the 1990s (although I appreciate I’m very much looking through rose-tinted glasses).

I’ve heard from another friend whose daughter is just completing her first year that lots of students are dropping out and are unhappy. Attendance at lectures is very much seen as optional and there is very little by the way of any contact time with staff. Registration codes are apparently shared by WhatsApp so the students can ‘register’ for classes but not actually attend.

It all sounds very isolating, and really makes me question whether all the expense of going (emotional as well as financial) makes it worthwhile. Interested to hear of others’ thoughts and whether it reflects your experience.

Thanks both. I'm just glad it will be a normal experience this time. He's been working for two years so will miss the income, he'll only be working two days a week for his boss. Who is keeping him on

My son has said the same. Never had any kind of "personal" interaction with any of his lecturers nor his designated "personal tutor".

This must vary from university to university. My own experience (RG) is that students will have compulsory weekly tutorials with their personal tutor in the first year and meetings at least twice a term in subsequent years. More often if they have any problems.

Staff also have designated “office hours” where students can visit them for help and advice. A few do, most don’t.

And I invite my students twice a term to drop in and have a chat, or make an appointment. Out of 20 personal tutees, maybe 2 take up the offer. And in my modules, I schedule blocks of time for individual essay tutorials in the last 2 weeks of term - out of the usual 25 students per module only about 80% of them will book a session.

PPs should also know that Oxford & Cambridge are funded differently to pay for the intense individual/paired tutorial system.